Senate stops Nigerian Customs vehicle duty ultimatum

March 7, 2017Hassan Adebayo

Customs Officers

The Senate has passed a resolution directing the Nigerian Customs Service to halt its plan to penalise Nigerians who do not pay duties on their vehicles within one month.

The resolution, on Tuesday, followed a motion by the Deputy Leader, Bala Na’Allah, who said the new Customs policy was “a serious matter”.

In his contribution, Kogi senator, Dino Melaye, said it was not possible to import vehicle without clearance or “collaboration” of the Customs.

The Senate resolved that Customs halt actions until the agency appears before its Committee on Customs.

Senate President Saraki Saraki said it was the responsibility of the senate to ensure welfare of Nigerians.

Customs had threatened to impound vehicles without duty papers, and to prosecute their owners.

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callistus u owuamanam

If it is discovered that there are vehicles without import duty paid, how did the vehicles enter. It is the customs that are at the borders. Before, it was breaking into ware houses and loading poor nigerian women bags of rice, now it is stopping and impoundind vehicles on the road. Change Begins with Me should start with people in the high places, if we want to be serious about fighting corruption.
- olumide
  
  You don’t want to pay duty on your vehicle.?if you have connived with unpatriotic officers to smuggle your vehicle, now is pay back time.All those senators drive vehicles without payment of duty;they are just trying to save their arses.
  - Waandu
    
    You think everyone with a car imported it by themselves? What of the majority who buy it from dealers AFTER they have been imported and documents made? Why should they be responsible for duty instead of the importer?
    - FineBoy
      
      Caveat Emptor
      - duwdu
        
        Please tell them, FineBoy. Every buyer of even a half-stolen vehicle wants to shift blames on Customs and others. Hehehe.
        
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        P34c3
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  - callistus u owuamanam
    
    My friend, stop that story of conniving with unpatriotic officers. Where were the patriotic officers when the unpatriotic officers were conniving? The patriotic officers who were not at their duty posts, should be traced, relieved of their duty, and prosecuted for negligience of duty. That is how a society that wants to move foward should respond. If tons of rice should evade control at our borders,tons of vehicles should evade control at the borders, there is someting at the hierarchy of the customs that should be re- examined.
- FineBoy
  
  Bottom line, stop smuggling cars and u wont be able to register or use it.
  Smart way of stop illegality
Gary

Thank goodness. Our uniformed services are running amok and seem to think Nigeria is back under military rule with Buhari in office and raising their public profile. Soldiers are back on the streets and brutalizing citizens in the name of keeping security. The Police are doing great at checkpoints and helping to harass and intimidate perceived opponents or critics of govt. bigwigs.

And now the Customs under retired Col. Alli is becoming a paramilitary force terrorizing Nigerian citizens in the name of collecting duties. Mr. Alli needs reminding that he cannot become a law unto himself and needlessly heating up public anxiety and misery in the midst of a crushing recession. Almost every week now, the Customs service is in the news for all the wrong reasons and terrorizing the people struggling to make a living.

If Mr. Alli’s goal is to spark a public uprising, then he’s doing a fantastic job. Otherwise someone needs to call him to focus instead on stopping those importing guns into the country.
- FineBoy
  
  Pay your duty is the law. Giving 30 days grace is help.
  The right way is PAY YOUR DUTY
  - Impulse400
    
    Did he import vehicle? Go and talk to vehicle importers, holier than thou.
    - FineBoy
      
      Caveat Emptor
      - Impulse400
        
        Whateverrrr…
      - FineBoy
        
        Simply means – BUYER BEWARE
      - AHA
        
        Better yet, ask Vehicle registration authority to verify duty payment of all vehicles before registration. I think this makes more sense as the end user may likely be the 4th or 5th party owner.
      - FineBoy
        
        4th, 5th or even 6th user, if the chain of even is that the vehicle is stolen at gun point, who ever is caught with it will have to be detained until he or she can produce the source.
        We are viewing this only in one narrow angle.
      - Gary
        
        In civilized societies, which I assume most Nigerians aspire to be, the Customs Service operates solely at entry ports. They don’t abdicate their responsibilities at the ports only to set up roadblocks or raid markets after the fact of letting contraband into the country. That is an avenue to facilitate corruption: take bribes from importers at the ports and then extort the end-users for more bribes or confiscate their goods.
        
        There is a reason why you can hardly find anyone who retires from the Customs poor or without numerous houses.
        I repeat, Col. Alli needs to be told to stop terrorizing the populace with his bone-headed policies. He’s in charge of Customs and not Internal Affairs. Osinbajo is trying to reduce tensions in the land while the likes of Alli are moving in the opposite direction.
  - Waandu
    
    Yes, the importer should pay duty not the end-user.
    - FineBoy
      
      Caveat Emptor is a simple Legal Rule.
      If you bought stolen item, u will be held liable
      - Richard Wilson
        
        my friend, i dont think you have a car and if you have ever owned one you will not be speaking from both side of your mouth. shame to you that is supporting fulanis that are the majority custom.
      - FineBoy
        
        Customs only enforce laws and not make laws.
        
        NASS that is talking know the law.
        
        Emotions don’t change laws.
        
        I don’t engage in illegal smuggling. I drive round fearing only robbers and not security, my documents are complete.
        
        Do same and u fear nobody.
        
        The law is not made for the JUST
Impulse400

This custom duty brouhaha is a shameful stain on the reputation of the custom officers. You have raised the import duty on cars from 5% to 35% and finally to 70%, in the past few years. Then you ban importation out-rightly. Now you threaten to go round Nigeria looking for cars without duty. How did the cars appear into the country? Don’t they require the same duty papers for vehicle registration?
TAWANDA INCOMMUNICADO

THOSE YORUBAS WHO BACKED MALLAMS INTO POLITICAL POWER CAN NOW UNDERSTAND THAT MALLAM HARDLY IMPORT VEHICLES, THEY EVEN HARDLY USE BUSES, THEY WALK. LET US ALL SUFFER.
Noble

This seems to be the first time the Senate is pro-masses. Good. keep it up.
- Manuel Tobby
  
  Yes, pro masses that have colluded to defraud their nation. Like leaders, like followers.
FineBoy

Does Senate has power by mere motion to stop an Execute Arm from doing their constitutional function?
- Peter
  
  Read your post and correct yourself immediately. This is disgraceful.
  - FineBoy
    
    Well knowledgeable emotional Peter, I refuse to correct what I have posted.
    Let us go law and Constitution and tell me where what I posted is disgraceful.
    1) Is it the Constitutional duty of NCS to collect duty for all imports – YES
    2) Has the Senate amended that Law by mere motion? NO.
    who is fooling who?
    It is trite law that Buyers Beware. If u bought a stolen vehicle or a vehicle with inadequate papers, go regularize it. Thieves like u want to waive that on emotion and not law. Can we be truthful for once please?
    - Delta_Quagmire
      
      Ogbeni, stop writing this gibberish and head back to primary one immediately.
      - FineBoy
        
        The Class will be on Benin – Ore Highway to stop the fake entry vehicles
      - Manuel Tobby
        
        Pay your custom duty, and stop stealing from your nation. Simple.
  - Kyboi
    
    Don’t mind him, He reads and understands upside-down! People fine boy should go back to school again yeye.
    - thusspokez
      
      ..go back to school again
      
      Is this the only insult you Nigerian have or you just can’t think of any other?
  - thusspokez
    
    What is your counter argument?
- Senator D
  
  Simply put this way: The Legislators make, amend or abolish a Law. The Judiciary interpret the laws and gives it the power. And the Executives implement the Law… The Executive can not be the law maker, interpreter and enforcer at the same time… Can you now understand how democracy works Oga?
- Senator D
  
  The Senate as the Law-giver can also direct based on Legislative exigencies ask the executive to halt implementation of a given law, pending a hearing or motion. Don’t forget the Executive can ONLY approach the judiciary to help them interpret the legality of that Legislative exigency. The Executive cannot defy the Legislators irrespective of their personal interpretation of the Law. The Judiciary have to give the Executive the go-ahead to defy the Legislative directive before the Executive can do so. That is how Law and constitution works in any sane place.
  - FineBoy
    
    Which fake Senator are u? Abuja Airport is closed from today after NASS useless motion. They can draft laws but depends on Executive signature. And what is the objective of the Senate motion? Who does it serves?
Ikem Williams

Primitive people want to implement primitive policies. Why they should shut down the country and let all men move back to 18 century Nigeria.
- Manuel Tobby
  
  I think it is primitive to defraud your country.
Hah!

We salute the Nigerian Senate for stopping yet another anti-people directives. The Nigerian Custom of today is behaving as if Nigeria is under a military regime.
- duwdu
  
  What’s anti-people about lawfully and gently asking those who evaded legitimate revenue due to government, to now pay up or forfeit the merchandise?
  
  The Senate couldn’t stop the ban on importation of vehicles through land borders; they cannot stop the latest policy directive by Customs, either. Deal with orderliness for once.
  
  Whichever thief evades customs duties, must be made to vomit same, no matter the way and manner the thief of government revenue is able to do it.
  
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  P34c3
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  - Chris Anyanwu
    
    But the end users of the vehicles which the custom now wants to impound may not be the actual culprit or the evader of duty as you put it. You can check my post above on the suggested implementation process. This wake-up overnight approach to endemic issues in Nigeria today is one of the reasons why the dollar to naira is sky high. You ban importation of this and that without first creating local alternatives forgetting that Nigeria is still import dependent. Did I hear they are about to unban the importation of 43 items they banned in a hurry?
    - Manuel Tobby
      
      So u will buy a plot of land with out checking the correctness of the land documents? Why are so ridiculously comfortable with lawlessness in this corner of the world. And we also export this lawlessness to other nations and then wondering why we are being killed all over the world.
  - Manuel Tobby
    
    God bless you sir. Nigerians are as corrupt as their leaders. I can’t imagine someone defrauding his nation and still have the gut to argue as a thief. Na wao for this country.
- Manuel Tobby
  
  Anti people? ??? Because you are being asked to pay to your tax you colluded with the corrupted custom staff to defraud your own country? Please try this in ordinary Botswana and see if you won’t be jailed. Like leaders, like followers. Why do we Nigerians love stealing so much? ??
  - Hah!
    
    May be you don’t understand what the custom are saying. No one is afraid of paying his tax but everything most follow due process. For a custom boss to wake up and just make new laws on tax is wrong. By the way do they even have a place to park the cars that they will impound? All cars imported from 2009-2016? Once gain I salute the Senate for stopping this nonsense.
Kunle Omobaba

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duwdu

These senators — and the way some reporters portray their stories — are funny and ill-informed. For example, a resolution by/of the Senate is just a suggestion/advice, and is NOT binding on anything or anybody.

It thus follows, in the case of the subject story, that the Senate has NOT in any way stopped the directive by the customs. Just as was the case with the ban on the importation of vehicles through land borders, the customs will go ahead and enforce their directive to collect duties on vehicles on which proper customer duties were not paid, from holders of such vehicles, and there’d be nothing the Senate will do about it.

The only thing the Senate can do about it, is to pass a legislation on it, and hope that the President agrees with it and signs it into a law, which will then be binding on everything and every body.

BTW, I hope some commentators on here are not suggesting that, because a policeman might have been compromised in the process of a thief committing an act, that such a thief should not be brought to book?

For all intent and purposes, someone who evades the payment of lawful duties on goods is a thief, no matter the way and manner such an evasion was achieved.

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P34c3
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- Gary
  
  I’m not familiar with the powers vested in the Nigerian Customs Service but by global best practices, no civilized nation allows its Customs officials to mount roadblocks, carry out raids or any operations outside the entry ports. That it was done under decades of military rule should not mean Nigerians should put up with it because Buhari put a retired soldier in charge of the Customs.
  
  The people are not the subjects of their government. Rather, government exists to serve the interests of people. And that is done in this instance, through the elected representatives of the people.
  The Executive has to take account of not just the laws but also non binding resolutions of the legislature as they express at any given time the mood and will of the people on policies of government.
  That is how representative government functions in a democracy and not a military regime that Col. Alli apparently seems more familiar with.
  
  His will is not law and even if he has the backing of the law, doing anything just because you can is the best definition of impunity. You can but should not set your dog on your neighbor’s kid for trespass because he jumped into your yard to pick up his ball. Or shoot the kid because the law allows you to protect your property from intruders.
  
  You cannot have a democracy without democrats and that remains a continuing problem with those who run government in Nigeria. Alli is just an exemplar of this mindset.
  - duwdu
    
    I don’t know what your grouse is, exactly?
    
    For all intent and purposes, the elected President with the Executive arm of government also and equally represents the will of the people, even if not more so, as the combined legislature. Consider that fairly, and the lot of your argument falls flat on its face.
    
    And, why the rambling about military rule here?
    
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    P34c3
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    - Gary
      
      Folks like you are the reason why democracy will never take root in Nigeria.
      It is reasoning like yours that allows an Army Chief to kill hundreds of people in cold blood because they blocked his motorcade.
      I’m rambling because our people are now facing the return of the military mindset under Buhari and the goons he’s appointed unto office. These people are now oppressing and killing citizens while whilst under a democracy.
      In a scant twenty months, Nigeria has been returned to the dark days of military rule because Buhari knows no other way to govern a civilized polity.
      Feel free to challenge me on the facts. Or whether Col. Ali was qualified in the first place to be put in charge of the Nigeria Customs Sevice. By their fruits you shall know them.
Bello Sule

I can’t stop wondering why people want to have things in the cheapest way. And why is it that we tend to be against what ever run contrary to our personal needs, no matter what the benefits are to the larger society? The recent order from the parliament to the NCS on the implementation of vehicle duty payment, needs serious consideration here. I think, in this instance the intentions of the parliament needs to be scrutinized. Is it not possible that the parliament is into this to protect their economic interests, since they are the major importers of these vehicles through their agents? Why were they so swift and quick to respond to this issue despite the fact that majority of the Nigerians are unaffected by this? We need to ponder upon these and many more before drawing conclusions on the action of the senate on this. Let’s not forget the antecedents of the Nigerian senators for their notority on enacting laws that favour them.
thusspokez

Senate President Saraki Saraki said it was the responsibility of the senate to ensure welfare of Nigerians.

Welfare of Nigerians nonsense. How many ordinary Nigerians import these vehicles?

Who bears the cost of looking after these vehicles before their owners collect them? Indeed, a month is too lenient. The penalty should start counting a week after the owner is notified of the arrival of the vehicle. The penalty should cover the daily cost of storage up to and including the day of final collection.
- Chris Anyanwu
  
  I’m pretty sure you didn’t get a good grip of what the matter is here, sorry to say. The issue is that the customs by omission or commission failed in their duties & now wants to impound cars belonging to ordinary Nigerians in the STREETS of Nigeria without custom papers & it doesn’t matter how long the owner has been using the car. It’s not about cars in demeurage yet uncleared. The custom directive by & large will punish Nigerians for owning cars without custom papers. This also opens doors for corrupt officers (customs, police and their likes) to line their pockets with more bribes at the expense of the suffering masses. By the way, how many rich Nigerians buy and drive cars without custom papers? What they ought to do is to be more effective in controlling the borders against smuggling & then implement VIN registration so as to collect & fine any new car registration without custom papers once the VIN registration becomes fully implemented
  - Senator D
    
    Thank you distinguished…
  - thusspokez
    
    The issue is that the customs by omission or commission failed in their duties…
    
    It is very typical of some of you Nigerians to discredit any person or organisation that tries to change the “Nigerian” way of doing things in other to deflect from the positive benefits.
    
    …now wants to impound cars belonging to ordinary Nigerians in the STREETS of Nigeria without custom papers…
    
    Where in the news report had you read this or you are just making up your own stories as you go?
    
    Customs operates at the border; it doesn’t have the mandate to stop and check cars in the STREETS. So stop being alarmist and misinforming readers.
    
    The custom directive by & large will punish Nigerians for owning cars without custom papers.
    
    But you think that this is wrong? I suppose, you also think that it is wrong to punish people who fail to pay their income tax?
  - Manuel Tobby
    
    It’s you the car owner and the corrupted custom staff that colluded satanically to defraud your nation. Nigerians are as corrupt as their leaders they insult daily. Tax evasion is a crime globally no matter who helped u to evade the tax even if it is 100 years ago , it’s still a crime.
Kingsley Okojaja

Hamid Ali,Hamid Ali,Hamid Ali……..when you put a square peg in a round hole this is what you get.
Richard Wilson

i tell you, those supporting Nigerian custom dont ve a car and they have never bought one in their life time. poor people
- Manuel Tobby
  
  Is that why you refused to Pay you custom duty? What’s nigerians problem with being lawful and Paying taxes? ?? Like leaders like followers.
Senator D

The Senate as the Law-giver can direct or ask, based on Legislative exigencies, the Executive to halt implementation of a given law, pending a hearing, amendment or motion. Don’t forget the Executive can ONLY approach the Judiciary to help them interpret the legality of that Legislative exigency. The Executive cannot defy the Legislators irrespective of their personal/emotional interpretation of the Law. The Judiciary has to give the Executive the go-ahead to defy the Legislative directive before the Executive can do so. That is how Law and constitution works in any sane place.
- Kickboxer
  
  ERRATA! Judiciary can’t go against laws passed by the Legislative branch. The role of Judiciary is to interpret the laws made by the Legislative branch. This means that the Legislative branch can amend laws or enact laws to checkmate executive/judicial excesses
isalam

dead country, Nigeria is doom, with fucking Buhari Government. How can you also ask people to pay another sum of duty after paying before , after you and your men has finished all the money , you come here threatening the entire nation, the thunder that will fire you , is still doing gyming in hell.
chris jones

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